Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions - Composition of Certain Balance Sheet Captions (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Jan. 02, 2015	Apr. 04, 2014
Accounts receivable, net:
Accounts receivable, Billed	$ 119,555	$ 129,794
Accounts receivable, Unbilled	149,478	143,651
Allowance for doubtful accounts	(931)	(1,554)
Accounts receivable, net	268,102	271,891
Inventories:
Raw materials	46,349	42,786
Work in process	21,461	22,279
Finished goods	61,377	54,536
Inventories	129,187	119,601
Prepaid expenses and other current assets:
Prepaid expenses	39,160	41,341
Other	4,357	2,729
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	43,517	44,070
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	190,195	166,537
Less accumulated amortization	(143,666)	(131,140)
Other acquired intangible assets, net	46,529	35,397
Other assets:
Capitalized software costs, net	109,581	91,022
Patents, orbital slots and other licenses, net	16,900	15,700
Deferred income taxes	98,584	110,711
Other	43,542	39,535
Other assets	268,607	256,968
Accrued liabilities:
Collections in excess of revenues and deferred revenues	98,818	69,127
Accrued employee compensation	27,379	23,954
Accrued vacation	23,451	22,550
Warranty reserve, current portion	9,355	9,368
Current portion of other long-term debt	1,066	1,856
Other	26,934	49,119
Accrued liabilities	187,003	175,974
Other liabilities:
Deferred revenue, long-term portion	5,765	10,097
Deferred rent, long-term portion	8,006	9,758
Warranty reserve, long-term portion	6,621	7,655
Deferred income taxes, long-term portion	333	816
Other liabilities	40,975	48,893
Technology [Member]
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	67,279	57,084
Contracts and customer relationships [Member]
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	99,649	88,853
Satellite co-location rights [Member]
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	8,600	8,600
Trade name [Member]
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	5,940	5,680
Other [Member]
Other acquired intangible assets, net:
Other acquired intangible assets, gross	8,727	6,320
Property Plant and Equipment - Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	942,020	804,794
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization	(212,105)	(173,958)
Property and equipment, net	729,915	630,836
Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	845,490	781,752
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization	(431,638)	(360,086)
Property and equipment, net	413,852	421,666
Satellite Performance Incentives Obligation [Member]
Other liabilities:
Satellite performance incentives obligation, long-term portion	20,250	20,567
Satellite - WildBlue-1 [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	195,890	195,890
Capital lease of satellite capacity - Anik F2 [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	99,090	99,090
Satellite - ViaSat-1 [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	363,204	363,204
Construction in progress [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	283,836	146,610
Construction in progress [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	13,938	17,062
Equipment and software [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	496,145	452,197
CPE leased equipment [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	238,062	221,017
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization	(99,800)	(79,800)
Furniture and fixtures [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	19,987	18,773
Leasehold improvements [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	66,814	62,159
Building [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	8,923	8,923
Land [Member] | Property Plant and Equipment - Excluding Satellites [Member]
Property and equipment, net:
Property and equipment	$ 1,621	$ 1,621